Saturday, August 23, 2008

Kirsty Birkett on Naturalism

Posted by Andy Naselli

The third essay in Christ on Campus Initiative’s series was just published this evening: Kirsty Birkett’s "I Believe in Nature: An Exploration of Naturalism and the Biblical Worldview."

The CCI essays are (1) by evangelical scholars, (2) geared for campus evangelism, and (3) edited by D. A. Carson. (And I've had the privilege of copy-editing them, so if you find any typos, let me know!)

Here's the outline for Birkett's essay:
Part 1: History
  1. Francis Bacon
  2. The Royal Society
  3. William Perkins
  4. William Paley
  5. Charles Darwin
  6. Thomas Huxley
  7. Summary
  8. Science and Naturalism Today
Part 2: What Is Science?
  1. The Method of Science
  2. One Response: Falsifiability
  3. The Problem of Empirical Equivalence
  4. Science and Community
  5. Summary
Part 3: The Bible and the Natural World
  1. It Is God’s World
  2. God Is Not Capricious
  3. God’s Reason for Creation
  4. Does the Bible Encourage Knowledge?
  5. A Marred World?
  6. The Limits of Natural Knowledge
  7. Putting It All Together
Part 4: The Problems of Naturalism
  1. The Problem of Power
  2. The Problem of Morality
  3. Explaining Humans
Conclusion
Annotated Bibliography
Related: Cf. JT's posts on the previous two essays:
  1. Do Christians Have a Worldview? (Graham Cole)
  2. Blomberg on How Historians Can Know Jesus and Why It Matters